Re: NRC Prelim. Notification of Unusual Occurence

[sandy_perle@email.fpl.com]

     Several reasons may be:
     
     1. The limits for a "declared pregnant female" are lower than the      
        occupational limit;
     
     2. The NRC requires reports for the "potential" to exceed the limits   
        as stated in 10CFR20;
     
     3. It is always prudent to report a potential "media" event to the NRC
     
     4. This involved an "intentional" use of radioactive material which    
        affected a large number of individuals.
     
     5. It was not a planned uptake
     
     Just some thoughts ...  I believe that the report was made as it 
     should have been.
     
     
     Sandy Perle
     Supervisor Health Physics
     Florida Power and Light Company
     Nuclear Division
     
     (407) 694-4219 Office
     (407) 694-3706 Fax
     
     sandy_perle@email.fpl.com


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: NRC Prelim. Notification of Unusual Occurence
Author:  radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at Internet-Mail
Date:    10/20/95 7:45 AM


The annual limit of intake for P-32 is 600 uCi (10CFR20 Appendix B). Maybe 
I am dumb, but is 579 still less than 600?   NRC requirements (10CFR20.2202)
call for immediate notification if an individual receives >25 rems or more 
TEDE, 24 hour notification if an individual receives >5 rems in a 24 hour
period.  The NRC also requires a written report within 30 days if an 
individual receives an exposure in excess of the limits (e.g., TEDE > 5 
rems).  With this in mind, why is an unusual occurence report justified?  
If an individual received 4.8 rem TEDE from external radiation over the 
course of a year, would the NRC issue an unusual occurence report?

I also take issue with the statement, "The information [about this event] 
is basically all that is known by Region I staff..."  I gave the Region I 
staff much more credit - I thought that they at least knew their name, 
home address, and even some health physics :-).


Kent Lambert, CHP
LAMBERT@hal.hahnemann.edu

These are my views and not my employers.